June 27, 2007
DC Invests in Manga
Posted by Madeline
DC Comics, possibly intimidated by Marvel’s Mangaverse and Dark Horse’s close relationship with Masamune Shirow and other mangaka, has invested in a manga start-up called Flex Comics Snip:
Translated editions of Japanese manga dominate U.S. graphic novel sales, and the Flex Comics venture makes DC Comics one of the first English-language publishers with a significant investment in a Japanese manga producer. DC publishes licensed Japanese manga in the U.S. through its CMX imprint.
It seems that DC has had this in mind for a while, what with their establishment of DC Comics Japan last year. They also seem to have been watching Flex, which has been producing manga since December. What interests me is that DC and Flex seem to be following the scanlation model of marketing: they want Web-heavy advertising before converting manga titles to print. But I question how they plan on getting the word out about Flex — the readers who watch BitTorrent and scanlation sites for the next big manga title don’t necessarily think to visit a corporate site. (On the other hand, Tokyopop has any number of manga readers on its mailing list.) And in order to earn purchasing decisions, DC/Flex will have to include something extra with their bound editions: new colour illustrations, interviews, gift certificates for related merchandise, or something similar.
Thanks are due to Emru for the link!
Filed To: Distribution / Over in Asia
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[…] Kokoro Media takes a look at DC’s investment in Japanse manga publisher Flex Comics: What interests me is that DC and Flex seem to be following the scanlation model of marketing: they want Web-heavy advertising before converting manga titles to print. But I question how they plan on getting the word out about Flex — the readers who watch BitTorrent and scanlation sites for the next big manga title don’t necessarily think to visit a corporate site. (On the other hand, Tokyopop has any number of manga readers on its mailing list.) And in order to earn purchasing decisions, DC/Flex will have to include something extra with their bound editions: new colour illustrations, interviews, gift certificates for related merchandise, or something similar. […]
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